Visit with the YA and children's author as she spins fascinating yarns about daily life.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Quotes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was delightful, aside for my daughter's nasty cold that just keeps giving. I am also still not fixed in the sleep department. The sleep med I've been on for two weeks is making me crazy tired all day, so who cares if I'm sleeping through the night? Right now I feel a bit jammed in the creativity department, and it took me until now to think of what I wanted to blog about.

How many of you notice the quotes in the beginning of books? How many of you authors include them? I must admit that I rarely read the quotes authors choose for their books. Sometimes, I just feel confused, and other times I am completely turned off by the lame choice of band or musician the author happens to be quoting (this happened in a book I read recently. And, no, I will not tell you which book. And yes, I am a music snob). I have only used one quote so far, at the beginning of INTO THE WILD NERD YONDER. The quote: "I want to see movies of my dreams." Or was it "wanna?" Whatever. A gorgeous quote from a gorgeous song by one of my favorite bands, Built to Spill. Why did I choose that quote? I don't know. I think I thought it had something to do with my book, but I more just liked the quote. Isn't that a lame reason? Even lamer, I secretly hoped that the guys in Built to Spill, when asked for the rights to use their quote, would contact me. Alas. No contact. So why bother? I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on book quotes. Because I haven't even written my next book (after the GET WELL SOON sequel), but I somehow thought this would be a nice quote to go in the front, "You're gonna make it after all." Of course, that's a line from the Mary Tyler Moore theme song. But I love it even more in this version by Husker Du. (I couldn't figure out how to insert the umlauts.) I used this song in my AWARD-WINNING (like, college award-winning) movie, "I Wanna Be a Freak." Don't you wish you could see that movie? Maybe some day. Anyway, it was in a montage scene. It's possibly the coolest song ever. And a good quote, to boot. Enjoy at maximum volume:

I like that a lot, Brian, about the quote's intention. Have you ever been in touch with one of your quotes quoters? And I'm not a huge Husker Du fan, either, I just LOVE this cover. Did you listen? It's really cool!

Well many of the books I have read include a quote at the beginning. And my AP English teacher recently discussed how important that can be. The quotes almost always give the reader an insight as to what the main idea of the story is. That the quote is there to help us understand the story more in depth.

Nolan, it's interesting to hear that English teachers dissect quote choices. It makes sense. Brian, do you choose the quote before you write or after you write the book? And Megan, thanks for the reader's POV.

About Me

I'm the author of teen novels Get Well Soon, Into the Wild Nerd Yonder, Don't Stop Now, Have a Nice Day, and The F-It List (all from Feiwel and Friends), and one children's picture book, Toby and the Snowflakes (Houghton Mifflin). I am also a sugar addict.